A star political reporter for New York Magazine was put on leave following claims of an affair with former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr while reporting on his campaign. Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi told her editors that she had "engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign," the outlet confirmed.
According to sources cited by STATUS news, their alleged relationship started sometime after a profile Nuzzi wrote on RFK Jr. was published in November 2023. Nuizzi, one of the top political reporters, was put on leave for violating the "magazine's standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures," the magazine said in a statement.
Costly Affair
"Recently our Washington Correspondent Olivia Nuzzi acknowledged to the magazine's editors that she had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign, a violation of the magazine's standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures," a statement from New York magazine read.
"Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign.
"An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias.
"She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review. We regret this violation of our readers' trust."
Nuzzi, 31, is engaged to Ryan Lizza, Politico's chief Washington correspondent, who is 50.
Nuzzi and RFK Jr. first met when they went on a hike together last year for a profile she was writing for New York Magazine.
A source close to Nuzzi revealed to Status that their relationship began only after the profile was published in November 2023, likely around the start of the new year.
The source also said that Nuzzi did not use RFK Jr. as a source while covering the 2024 campaign.
Those familiar with the situation said Nuzzi hadn't voluntarily revealed the affair, and New York Magazine only recently became aware of it.
An Affair to Remember
In her profile, Nuzzi wrote about meeting the former presidential candidate at the $7 million California home he shares with his wife. She portrays RFK Jr. as an outsider candidate, describing him as someone "turning the presidential election upside down."
"Fear — and denial — is what Kennedy seems to inspire among the staid Washington Establishment supporting the incumbent president and the gangland anti-Establishment Establishment supporting the former president," she wrote.
She also highlighted tensions in RFK Jr.'s marriage, mentioning a disagreement between him and his wife regarding his decision to appear on Steve Bannon's show and other right-wing media platforms.
"Bannon was only the beginning. Poor Cheryl," Nuzzi wrote.
When the article was published, RFK Jr. was running for president as an independent candidate, though he has since dropped out and endorsed Trump.
Nuzzi's most recent article, where she detailed examining Trump's ear after the Butler assassination attempt, appeared in New York Magazine on September 9.
This comes amid reports that RFK Jr. is under federal investigation for allegedly severing the head of a dead whale and taking it home two decades ago.
